I talk to a lot of beginner photographers wanting to start practicing portraits.
And guess what’s the number-one skill they find very hard to acquire?
The ability to effectively direct their model’s poses in a portrait photography session.
Technically, if you think about it, there is an infinitely large space to get creative when it comes to portrait poses. There is no such thing as a bad pose. So why do novice photographers still struggle?
Today, you will learn about what is the real issue here, and if you stay till the end, ACTIONABLE STPES you can take to give better portraiture posing directions.
If you find this helpful, SUBSCRIBE to my channel via the box on the left to make the most out of my blog! Also, do share it with people who might be interested. Shoot me an email/ DM to share your thoughts too!
Also, Pin this article to your Portrait Photography board in Pinterest if you find it helpful!
Why can’t I Get my Model to Pose Like I Wanted?
Based on my experience with portrait photography, I believe it all boils down to ONE THING.
You are not on the same page INSIDE.
Having worked with models of all experience levels, I learnt that in order to get your model to pose as you intended, it has to come from WITHIN them.
In other words, poses look appealing in portraiture as a direct reflection of the model’s state of mind, not the photographer’s (or at best, indirectly so).
If you begin by reverse engineering a pose, it looks unnatural because it is not a genuine expression from your model. Your model can tick all the boxes you set up but still look somewhat weird.
Simply put, it is not about making EXTERNAL adjustments to the pose; it is about communicating an INTERNAL vision.
Therefore, before you think about WHAT poses to direct; think about HOW to direct first.
How to Direct your Models to Pose
There are many ways to communicate an idea and here are some ways that worked well for me.
Create a Moodboard
Moodboards help with so many things in photography - they are the language of creatives.
When you describe a mood in words, it can mean very different things in the model’s mind. As a result, you think you get each other but in fact you don’t. This leads to a massive waste of time.
In this blog post I talked about what Moodboards are and how you can use them, so l will not repeat myself here.
Moodboard for a Qipao Shoot.
Here are some more examples of Moodboards for your reference:
This was the Moodboard I created for a Qipao shoot. I wanted the model to pose elegantly yet at the same time exhibit a sense of secrecy.
The point about Moodboards is NOT to ask your model to COPY - these poses are only a starting point.
I was shooting a female while I put males in the board - it is the mood that matters, not the details.
The board below was created for a shoot for a designer friend Ivan’s garments, which looked traditionally Chinese.
Therefore, I incorporated certain elements in the Chinese culture to let the model, who wasn’t ethically Chinese, understand what we are trying to achieve.
Do keep in mind that the better your Moodboard is, the more effective the communication will be!
Moodboard for a Chinese-styled designer.
Demonstrate the Pose Yourself
Photographers need to know how to pose.
Depending on how relevant your Moodboard is, sometimes it might still be not enough to get your message across.
Or oftentimes, you suddenly have an idea that you didn’t include in your Moodboard.
One trick that always works for me is to actually do the pose yourself.
Don’t belief me? See the video.
If you want to set yourself apart from the other photographers out there, you should take one step further to think from your model’s perspective.
It is much harder to mimic an image than a real person.
Your model would really appreciate it if you show her the actual pose, rather than leaving her on her own to figure it out based on a flimsy image.
Trust me, try it out on your next shoot and let me know if it works for you too!
Belinda Jiao’s photoshoot with Paloma Gerber at PMQ Central, Hong Kong
Tell Stories, not Poses
Instead of saying ‘can you do this?’, say ‘imagine this…’.
Not going to lie, I sometimes still make the mistake of trying to describe one very specific pose to my models.
But words can only do so much, so I then make the change and tell my models to act out a story.
Any simple one would do, such as ‘imagine that you are reading a boring book...’.
This photo on the right was what I got immediately after telling my model this story.
The bottom line is, both the photographer and the model are creatives. There is no reason why the photographer should be shooting directions all the time, whereas the model simply executes.
Give your model a brief idea, and trust that she would come up with something amazing in her space.
Summary
In this article, we talked about:
The number one reason why your model doesn’t pose like how you wanted.
The issue usually is because you are not on the same page with your model inside.
Three effective ways that change how you direct your models are:
Create Moodboards,
Demonstrate posing yourself, and
Telling a story
More sharing coming soon!
SUBSCRIBE via the box on the left for more PRO tips, and follow me on Instagram (@_bjiao__) and let me know what you think in the comments.
Share this article on Pinterest too!
Keep shooting, keep creating!
The mission of this blog is to provide the best insider information in the photography industry, as openly as possible. You have direct access to my
first-person experience as an aspiring photographer who talks, but also works.
Honest opinion are rarely available as public resources because this is a competitive industry. Huge sums are made when such information is delivered in the form of mentorship and workshops.
This blog is a great way in which I cover my daily expenses, but also provide real value.
If you have learnt something that would be worth at least $10, please consider donating to the page. This enables me to keep creating content and helping more people sustainably.
Your continued support for the blog is appreciated!